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Office of the Attorney General - State of Texas John Cornyn |
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July 16, 2002 Ms. Elizabeth Lutton
OR2002-3872 Dear Ms. Lutton: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 165749. The City of Arlington (the "city") received a request for the personnel file of a named police officer. You advise that you are releasing some responsive information. You claim that the remaining responsive information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.117, and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and have reviewed the submitted information. Section 552.101 excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." This section encompasses information protected by common-law privacy and excepts from disclosure private facts about an individual. See Industrial Found. v. Texas Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668 (Tex. 1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 931 (1977). Information must be withheld from the public under common-law privacy when (1) it is highly intimate and embarrassing such that its release would be highly objectionable to a person of ordinary sensibilities, and (2) there is no legitimate public interest in its disclosure. See id. at 685; see also Open Records Decision No. 611 at 1 (1992). Prior decisions of this office have found that financial information relating only to an individual ordinarily satisfies the requirements of the test for common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision Nos. 600 (1992) (personal financial choices concerning insurance, designation of beneficiary of employee's retirement benefits are generally confidential), 545 (1990) (common-law privacy protects personal financial information). However, where a transaction is funded in part by the state, it involves the employee in a transaction with the state and is not protected by privacy. Thus, information about the essential features of an employee's participation in a group insurance program funded in part by the state involves him in a transaction with the state and, therefore, is not excepted from disclosure by a right of privacy. On the other hand, information is excepted from disclosure if it relates to a voluntary investment that the employee made in an optional benefits plan offered by the state. Open Records Decision No. 600 (1992). We agree that the information you have marked constitutes personal financial information that must be withheld under section 552.101 and the common-law right to privacy. We have marked some additional financial information that must also be withheld. Further, section 1324a of title 8 of the United States Code provides that an Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 "may not be used for purposes other than for enforcement of this chapter" and for enforcement of other federal statutes governing crime and criminal investigations. See 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(b)(5); see also 8 C.F.R. § 274a.2(b)(4). The release of the submitted Form I-9 in response to this request for information would be "for purposes other than for enforcement" of the referenced federal statutes. A Form I-9 may be released only for purposes of compliance with the federal laws and regulations governing the employment verification system. Therefore, the city must withhold the submitted Form I-9 and its attachment under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 1324a of title 8 of the United States Code. A W-4 form is confidential under section 6103 of title 26 of the United States Code. Section 6103(a) makes federal tax return information confidential. The term "return information" includes "the nature, source, or amount of income" of a taxpayer. See 26 U.S.C. § 6103(b)(2). Federal courts have construed the term "return information" expansively to include any information gathered by the Internal Revenue Service regarding a taxpayer's liability under title 26 of the United States Code. See Mallas v. Kolak, 721 F. Supp 748, 754 (M.D.N.C. 1989), dismissed in part, aff'd in part, vacated in part, and remanded, 993 F.2d 1111 (4th Cir. 1993). The city must withhold the submitted W-4 form under section 552.101 in conjunction with federal law. Furthermore, section 552.117(2) excepts from public disclosure a peace officer's home address, home telephone number, social security number, and information indicating whether the peace officer has family members regardless of whether the peace officer made an election under section 552.024 of the Government Code.(1) Therefore, we agree that the information you have marked pursuant to section 552.117 must be withheld. We have marked some additional information that must also be withheld under section 552.117. Finally, section 552.130 excepts from public disclosure information relating to a driver's license or motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state. Thus, you must withhold the driver's license number, license class, and license expiration date you have marked under section 552.130. In summary, you must withhold the financial information you have marked, as well as the financial information we have marked, under section 552.101. The I-9 form and attachment and W-4 form must also be withheld under section 552.101. You must withhold the personal information you have marked pursuant to section 552.117, along with some additional information we have marked. The driver's license, license class, and license expiration date must be withheld under section 552.130. The remaining requested information must be released. This letter ruling is limited to the particular records at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other records or any other circumstances. This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For example, governmental bodies are prohibited from asking the attorney general to reconsider this ruling. Gov't Code § 552.301(f). If the governmental body wants to challenge this ruling, the governmental body must appeal by filing suit in Travis County within 30 calendar days. Id. § 552.324(b). In order to get the full benefit of such an appeal, the governmental body must file suit within 10 calendar days. Id. § 552.353(b)(3), (c). If the governmental body does not appeal this ruling and the governmental body does not comply with it, then both the requestor and the attorney general have the right to file suit against the governmental body to enforce this ruling. Id. § 552.321(a). If this ruling requires the governmental body to release all or part of the requested information, the governmental body is responsible for taking the next step. Based on the statute, the attorney general expects that, within 10 calendar days of this ruling, the governmental body will do one of the following three things: 1) release the public records; 2) notify the requestor of the exact day, time, and place that copies of the records will be provided or that the records can be inspected; or 3) notify the requestor of the governmental body's intent to challenge this letter ruling in court. If the governmental body fails to do one of these three things within 10 calendar days of this ruling, then the requestor should report that failure to the attorney general's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at 877/673-6839. The requestor may also file a complaint with the district or county attorney. Id. § 552.3215(e). If this ruling requires or permits the governmental body to withhold all or some of the requested information, the requestor can appeal that decision by suing the governmental body. Id. § 552.321(a); Texas Department of Public Safety v. Gilbreath, 842 S.W.2d 408,411 (Tex. App.--Austin 1992, no writ). Please remember that under the Act the release of information triggers certain procedures for costs and charges to the requestor. If records are released in compliance with this ruling, be sure that all charges for the information are at or below the legal amounts. Questions or complaints about over-charging must be directed to Hadassah Schloss at the Texas Building and Procurement Commission at 512/475-2497. If the governmental body, the requestor, or any other person has questions or comments about this ruling, they may contact our office. We note that a third party may challenge this ruling by filing suit seeking to withhold information from a requestor. Gov't Code § 552.325. Although there is no statutory deadline for contacting us, the attorney general prefers to receive any comments within 10 calendar days of the date of this ruling. Sincerely, Kristen Bates
c: Ms. Priscilla G. deSouza
Footnotes 1. Section 552.117(2) applies to peace officers as defined by article 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |